Friday, 5th September                    YORK

Robyn writes: We're really pleased we chose Yorkshire for our last week in the UK - we had a great day today. This morning dawned cool and foggy, but the forecast was for an unheard of low risk of rain and 24 degrees, so I recklessly set out without my rain jacket! We headed out to the Park & Ride to go into York again. We got in there at around 10.30, got off at Picadilly and walked in the direction of the Railway Museum, which was across the river and through the city walls. It was free to get in, but we gave them a 10 pound donation and went off to explore the huge array of trains. Lex went off to a talk about the "Duchess of Hamilton" steam train first, and I went off to look at the royal trains - those which were used by Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and King George VI. We enjoyed looking at all of the trains and watched a display of their turntable, then had a nice lunch (vegetable soup) in their cafe. It's a wonderful museum, with so many different trains from the UK right from the very beginning of the railway era.

Me with one of the first trains built in 1829, just after Stephenson's Rocket

The Mallard, the fastest steam train ever

Can you see Lex dwarfed by this huge steam train made for China just before WWII?

After lunch, I left Lex to the trains and headed off into the city again. The fog had cleared and it was beautifully sunny and warm. Then I walked to the city walls and then up along the closest wall until I got to the building at the gate where the Henry VII museum is - I had an enjoyable time looking at the exhibits there. Then I went into the town to have a wander through the markets and shops until it was time to meet Lex at 3 - we'd arranged to meet up and go on an Ouse river cruise. Well, 3 o'clock came and went, but my husband didn't! The cruise went off upriver, and I got an icecream and a text to say that he was running late. I decided to have a cuppa while waiting at a nearby cafe out on the cobblestones near the boat dock, but everyone else (the sunlight had brought out all of the tourists in droves) had the same idea. After standing in line for fifteen minutes, I realised I wouldn't get served before the next cruise even if I did get a table, so I gave up and went to wait at the boat, which was ready for the 3.30 cruise. Lex then finally turned up, so we bought our tickets and went on board.

The cruise was very relaxing and enjoyable - we went upstream then turned around to go back through the city centre again. It was nice to see York from the river, and to take the weight off our feet for a while!

Cruise boat on the Ouse

Relaxed tourist

Clifford's Tower (lots more spiral stone staircases to climb!)

Me at the top of the tower

After the cruise, we walked around to Clifford's tower, the remaining keep of York Castle, which is on a mound near the river. This is English Heritage, so we got in for free and climbed right to the top of the tower to see the view from there. It's the last remaining part of York Castle and was built by Henry III in the late 1200s. The roof has been gone for centuries, but English Heritage has saved and stabilised the tower. The view was great.

By now it was about half past five, so we walked back to the bus stop and luckily, once again there was a bus waiting there. We hopped on and we were back at the Park & Ride before 6. When we got back to Pocklington, we popped into the Co-op to get some groceries for tea, then came home.

It seemed like a good idea to go for just one drink at "Toddy's", the little pub across the road....that's until we were hijacked by the locals! We were soon chatting to everyone, and I had just finished my glass of wine, when the barmaid topped it up and informed us that Steve, the local school principal, had just bought us another drink each. Some time later I tore myself away, said my goodnights and reeled out, callously abandoning Lex to his fate - I just had to come home and cook some tea and eat. One good square meal later I was recovering but Lex didn't turn up until after 9 - bearing two bottle of "The Hop Studio", a local porter, and a pale ale pressed on him by one of the locals who works in a microbrewery near York. He has since had tea and shows signs of recovery!